State of Tennessee Department of State Tennessee State Library and Archives 403 Seventh Avenue North Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0312

GOVERNOR WILLIAM BLOUNT (1749-1800) PAPERS 1790-1796

Territory of the United States of America South Of the River Ohio

(GP 1)

Processed by:

Elbert Watson Archival Technical Services

Re-processed by:

David R. Sowell Archival Technical Services

Date Completed: 1964; 1988

MICROFILMED SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The majority of the Territorial Governor’s correspondence deals with the establishment of peace along a frontier with the Indians to the extent that overland access between the two parts if the Territory was through Indian country, over which the Indians at times exacted tribute for passage. The difficulty of government was also compounded by the fact that the Territorial Governor had his residence at Knoxville, whereas the Territorial Secretary, Daniel Smith, habitually resided in Nashville. There is also some discussion of the treaty with Spain, which directly affected the Mero (Middle Tennessee) District. There is an interesting feature in connection with the proceedings of the Territorial Assembly; the Territorial Governor saved manpower by himself acting as Speaker of the Senate. So scant is the available material within these files that it has been decided to file as part of the record a copy of the Blount Journal, a fully indexed, offset printed volume covering the complete administration of the Territorial Governor. Also included, for purposes of continuity, are letters from Senator Blount to Governor John Sevier, and a letter from the two Senators from Tennessee to the Governor having bearing on the electoral situation as regards to the new State.

GO TO INDEX TO LETTERS OF THE TENNESSEE GOVERNORS

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Governor William Blount

1749 March 26; born near Windsor, Bertie County; North Carolina; son of Jacob and Barbara (Gray) Blount

1778 February 12; married Mary Grainger; fathered six children c. 1776 Entered the service of revolutionary North Carolina, served as paymaster of various units of North Carolina troops during the Revolution

1780-1784 Member of the North Carolina House Commons

1782-1783 Delegate from North Carolina to the U.S. 1786-1787 Continental Congress

1787 Delegate from North Carolina to the U.S. Constitutional convention

1788-1790 Member of the North Carolina State Senate

1789 Member of the North Carolina Convention to Ratify the U.S. Constitution

1790-1796 June 8; Appointed by President George Washington as Governor of the Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio; also appointed superintendent of Indian Affairs

1796 January; served as President of the Tennessee Constitutional Convention

1796 Elected by the State Legislature to the United States Senate

1797 July 8; expelled from the U.S. Senate by a vote of 25 to 1 when found to be in intrigue with Indians, frontiersmen, and British fleet relative to an attack on Spanish Florida and Louisiana

1798 Elected to the Tennessee State Senate, and served that body as Speaker

1800 March 21; died in Knoxville; buried in churchyard of the First Presbyterian Church

CONTAINER LIST

Box No. Folder No. Contents

1 ** Register

1 Correspondence [Outgoing] 1790-1793

2 Correspondence [various] 1794-1797

3 Correspondence [Outgoing] 2/29/1796 Correspondence [Incoming] 4/11/1798

4 Warrants to William Rickard for payment of troops; 1795

5 Miscellaneous Papers 1794

6 Messages as Speaker of the State Senate 1798

7 The Blount Journal and Index to the Blount Journal 1790-1796 [copy of original]